Modern Journal of Language Teaching Methods (MJLTM)Kargozari Hamid Reza, PhD in TEFL, Payame Noor...

Modern Journal of Language Teaching Methods ISSN: 2251-6204

Vol. 6, Issue 7, October 2016 Page 1

Modern Journal of Language Teaching Methods (MJLTM)

ISSN: 2251 - 6204

www.mjltm.com

[email protected]

[email protected]

Editor – in – Chief

Hamed Ghaemi, Assistant Professor in TEFL, Islamic Azad University (IAU)

Editorial Board:

1. Abednia Arman, PhD in TEFL, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran 2. Afraz Shahram, PhD in TEFL, Islamic Azad University, Qeshm Branch, Iran 3. Amiri Mehrdad, PhD in TEFL, Islamic Azad University, Science and research

Branch, Iran 4. Azizi Masoud, PhD in Applied Linguistics, University of Tehran, Iran 5. Basiroo Reza, PhD in TEFL, Islamic Azad University, Bushehr Branch, Iran 6. Dlayedwa Ntombizodwa, Lecturer, University of the Western Cape, South Africa 7. Doro Katalin, PhD in Applied Linguistics, Department of English Language

Teacher Education and Applied Linguistics, University of Szeged, Hungary 8. Dutta Hemanga, Assistant Professor of Linguistics, The English and Foreign

Languages University (EFLU), India 9. Elahi Shirvan Majid, PhD in TEFL, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran 10. Fernández Miguel, PhD, Chicago State University, USA 11. Ghaemi Hamide, PhD in Speech and Language Pathology, Mashhad University

of Medical Sciences, Iran 12. Ghafournia Narjes, PhD in TEFL, Islamic Azad University, Neyshabur Branch,

Iran 13. Grim Frédérique M. A., Associate Professor of French, Colorado State University,

USA 14. Izadi Dariush, PhD in Applied Linguistics, Macquarie University, Sydney,

Australia 15. Kargozari Hamid Reza, PhD in TEFL, Payame Noor University of Tehran, Iran

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https://mjltm.org/article-1-252-en.htmlhttp://dx.doi.org/10.26655/mjltm.2016.10.4



16. Kaviani Amir, Assistant Professor at Zayed University, UAE 17. Kirkpatrick Robert, Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics, Shinawatra

International University, Thailand 18. Mehrani Mehdi, PhD in TEFL, University of Neyshabur, Neyshabur, Iran 19. Morady Moghaddam Mostafa, PhD in TEFL, University of Tabriz, Iran 20. Mouton Nelda, PhD in Education Management, North-West University

(NWU), South Africa 21. Najafi Sarem Saeid, PhD Candidate in TEFL, Islamic Azad University, Science

and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran 22. Naicker Suren, Department of Linguistics and Translation, University of South

Africa 23. Ndhlovu Finex, PhD, Linguistics Programme, University of New England,

Australia 24. Raddaoui Ali Hechemi, PhD, Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics,

University of Wyoming in Laramie, USA 25. Rezaei Saeed, PhD in TEFL, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran 26. Rolstad Kellie, PhD, Associate Professor of Education, University of Maryland,

USA 27. Roohbakhshfar Hamid, PhD in TESOL, Islamic Azad University, Neyshabur

Branch, Iran 28. Sanatifar Mohammad Saleh, PhD in Translation Studies, Tabaran Institute of

Higher Education, Mashhad, Iran. 29. Shafiee Sajad, Department of English, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad

University, Shahrekord, Iran 30. Stobart Simon, PhD, Dean of Computing, Teesside University, UK 31. Suszczynska Malgorzata, Senior Assistant Professor, University of Szeged,

Hungary 32. Tabeifard Sayed Javad, PhD in ELT, University of Tehran, Kish International

Campus, Iran 33. Weir George R. S., PhD in Philosophy of Psychology, University of Strathclyde,

Glasgow, UK 34. Zabihi Reza, PhD in TEFL, University of Neyshabur, Neyshabur, Iran 35. Zegarac Vladimir, PhD, University of Bedfordshire, UK

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Abstracting/Indexing

Index Copernicus 2011

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Linguistics Abstract

EBSCO Publication

Lulu Publication

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Directory of Open Access Journals

ProQuest

Modern Language Association

Cabell's Directories

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COPE

Directory of Research Journal Indexing (DRJI)

Indian Citation Index

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International Society of Universal Research in Sciences

Ulrich's

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THE IMPACT OF CHATTING WITH NATIVE SPEAKERS IN SOCIAL NETWORKS ON YOUNG IRANIAN

ENGLISH UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' INTRINSIC MOTIVATION TOWARD LEARNING SPEAKING SKILL

Asadallah Hashemifardnya Department of ELT, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran, ([email protected])

Islam Namaziandoost Department of ELT, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran , ([email protected])

Anwar Bani Tamim, Department of ELT, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran, ([email protected])

ABSTRACT

THE PRESENT STUDY INVESTIGATED THE EFFECTS OF CHATTING ON INCREASING IRANIAN ENGLISH STUDENTS' INTRINSIC MOTIVATION TOWARD LEARNING SPEAKING ENGLISH. THIS STUDY ALSO AIMED TO EXAMINE THE MOTIVATING FACTORS IN CHATTING FROM PARTICIPANTS' POINT OF VIEW AND IT ALSO INVESTIGATED THE BEST MOTIVATION RAISING CHAT TOPICS. TO FULFILL THE OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY, 24 MALE AND FEMALE BA ENGLISH STUDENTS FROM AZAD UNIVERSITY, ABADAN, IRAN WERE SELECTED AS THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE STUDY. DÖRNYEI (2010) ENGLISH LEARNER QUESTIONNAIRE (PART 1) WAS DISTRIBUTED AMONG THEM. AFTER FILLING OUT THE QUESTIONNAIRE, THE RESEARCHER HELD AN INTERVIEW WITH THE PARTICIPANTS OVER THEIR MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH AS A WHOLE AND SPEAKING ENGLISH IN PARTICULAR. AFTERWARD, THEY WERE ASKED TO SPEND 3 MONTHS CHATTING WITH NATIVE SPEAKERS ON WHAT'S APP. AFTER 3 MONTHS CHATTING WITH NATIVES, ANOTHER INTERVIEW WAS HELD TO CHECK THE PARTICIPANTS' MOTIVATION AND SPEAKING SKILL. THE ENGLISH LEARNER QUESTIONNAIRE WAS ALSO DISTRIBUTED AMONG THEM AGAIN AND FINALLY, THE COLLECTED DATA WERE ANALYZED. PAIRED SAMPLE T-TEST WAS RUN TO COMPARE THE PARTICIPANTS' SCORES BEFORE THE TREATMENT AND AFTER THE TREATMENT. THE RESULTS INDICATED THAT CHATTING WAS EFFECTIVE TO INCREASE PARTICIPANTS' INTRINSIC MOTIVATION TOWARD SPEAKING ENGLISH. THE STUDY ALSO FOLLOWED A QUALITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS METHOD TO CODE THE DATA EXTRACTED FROM THE INTERVIEWS; THIS TYPE OF DATA WERE CATEGORIZED BASED ON PARTICIPANTS' VIEWS. RESULTS OF QUALITATIVE DATA SHOWED THAT TOPICS LIKE: IMPROVING ENGLISH ACHIEVEMENT, TYPING SKILL IMPROVEMENT, SELF-CONFIDENCE IMPROVEMENT AND FAMILIARIZING WITH TARGET CULTURE WERE THE MOST MOTIVATING FACTORS FOR THE PARTICIPANTS TO CHAT. FINDINGS ALSO INDICATED THAT MALE RESPONDENTS TENDED TO CHAT WITH NATIVE SPEAKERS ON TOPICS LIKE FOOTBALL, FINDING JOB, BUSINESS, TRAVELLING ABROAD, AND POLITICAL ISSUES AND FEMALE PARTICIPANTS DISCUSSED MORE ON COSMETIC SURGERY, MARRIAGE, FASHION AND MAKE-UP.

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KEY WORDS: CHAT, SOCIAL NETWORK, INTRINSIC MOTIVATION, SPEAKING SKILL.

1. Introduction

For most people, the ability to speak a foreign language is synonymous with knowing that language because speech is the basic means of human communication for them. English learners no longer enjoy the traditional approaches that their teachers apply in the classrooms to on develop their English proficiency level. Today, teachers are expected to familiarize their students with the advantages of the technology in improving their language learning.

To help EFL students gain more self-confidence in speaking English, technological tools can be applied to possibly solve the problems. Related studies about Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication (SCMC) in language classroom suggest that online chatting, which is a kind of SCMC, can motivate students to produce language in real-time (Yuan, 2003).

SCMC is a real-time communication via a computer network. Online chatting is a kind of SCMC that is available on the Internet where users around the world communicate in real-time (Almeida d'Eç, 2003; Böhlke, 2003). Kitade (2000) states that online chatting could promote self-correction while chatting. The conversations in chat rooms allow students to scroll back and rethink what had been discussed and reformulate their own conversations before posting it into the chat rooms. Chatting is an instrument to encourage students to produce language. Online chatting is a technological tool that occurs in real-time and allows the users to use spoken language in the same manner as face-to-face interactions. This study uses it to improve EFL students speaking skill and to encourage them to produce and learn language in a positive learning environment.

Gaining proficiency in speaking skill has always been a great point of concern for potential EFL communicators. This need is now more concrete than any time before. In face-to-face communication contexts, plenty of such factors as anxiety, shyness and not being enough proficient are demotivating and inhibit the individuals to communicate with native-speakers. Along with the emergence of the virtual world, the cyber space, where you can stay anonymous and yet express yourself in the most comprehensive way, this problem has been fairly solved. Online learning can facilitate learning new languages; Ally (2008) defines online learning as the use of the Internet to access learning materials, to interact with the content, instructor, and other learners, to obtain support during the learning process in order to acquire knowledge, to construct personal meaning, and to grow from the learning experience. Kern, Ware and Warschauer (2008) state that those students who can converse in spontaneous online chat discussions, for example, should have an easier time contributing to the ongoing flow of a face-to-face conversation. It is believed that online learning can increase the learners' motivation and it is also a useful method to improve English language proficiency.

2. Review of the Literature

2.1. Social Networking

The idea of “Social Networking” has existed for several decades as a way for people to communicate in society and build relationships with others (Coyle & Vaughn, 2008). With the increase of technology used for communicating with others and the popularity of the Internet, “Social Networking” has become an activity that is done primarily on the Internet, with sites like MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, Friendster, and Xanga (Coyle & Vaughn, 2008). Social networking sites (SNS) may be defined as: "Web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system" (Boyd & Ellison, 2007, p. 1).

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"Social networking sites allow users to create user-generated content that is highly dynamic and changeable and is mainly characterized by the emphasis on community and collaboration" (Arnold & Paulus, 2010, p. 188). Indeed, they often contain individual profile pages that help identify the author of the posts and tools, such as blogs, chats and discussion forums that enhance cooperation between the peers.

Some well-known social networking sites are Facebook, Twitter, My- Space, YouTube, SlideShare and Flickr and social bookmarking sites, such as Delicious, all of which provide a vehicle for collaboration for educational and non-educational purposes worldwide.

The mentioned social networking sites have some benefits for example, Facebook has been found to promote socio-pragmatic competence (Blattner & Ellison, 2009) and to facilitate problem-solving and peer support (Minocha, 2009) and the Ning site, to encourage student engagement, learning ownership and collaboration with students and professionals (Brady, Kevin, Holcomb, Smith, 2010). Blogs and wikis have been found to help in student socialization, collaborative learning, teamwork and peer-to-peer support and feedback and, thus, they benefit students through idea sharing, which helps in understanding course concepts (Minocha, 2009). Further advantages derived from the use of social networking sites include a sense of achievement and encouraging improvement, as the writing that is carried out is directed at an audience (Minocha, 2009).

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) was reported in numbers of previous study that it is a benefit to language learning in many ways: it facilitates communication (Cooper & Selfe, 1990), facilitate social learning (Barker & Kemp, 1990), promote egalitarian class structures (Sproull & Kiesler, 1991), reduce anxiety (Kern, 1995), and develop the writing/thinking connection and enhance student motivation (Warschauer, 1996). Also, the findings of researches indicated that online chatting and synchronous CMC can facilitate the development of socio-linguistic and interactive competence (Kern, 1995).

Kern (1995) studied the amounts of different discourse patterns and the characteristics of discourse for the networked computer mediated discussion compare to oral discussion. He reported that learners produced more turns and sentences and used a greater variety of discourse structures in the networked computer mediated communication than learners in the oral discussion did.

Tudini (2003) examined open-ended conversations regarding a set topic between Italian NSs and NNSs in text chats. He discovered that speakers engaged in modified interaction, triggered mainly by lexical confusion, which could facilitate SLA.

2.2. The Importance of Speaking

Brumfit (1984) considered fluency as natural language use like the native speakers. That the ability one speaks fluently can sustain the speaker to produce continuous speech and meaning without comprehension difficulties for the listener. Richards (2006) argued the strand of fluency is a measurement of one’s communicative proficiency level. As a result, it is obvious that the speaking fluency is an important component of the communication competence. Hedge (2000) eventually put the fluency development into the criteria list of communicative competence for being a successful English speaker.

Unlike the traditional grammar translation method, which is a structure-based teaching model pays attention on grammar structure rather than developing their listening and speaking skills. Instead, CLT requires the teachers to seek and present tasks for developing communicative skills. Richards (2006) maintained that the speaking fluency is developed by many variables: the interaction in problem solving tasks, the negotiation of meaning in pair work and the use of communication strategies. Regardless, Ellis and Sinclair (1989) advised the language learners are supposed not to make pauses, instead speaking

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meaningfully and naturally, with no excessive repetition. Whereas teacher’s role is to correct the students’ misunderstandings and guide them avoiding communication breakdowns (Richards, 2006).

Based on Fillmore’s (1979) definition of speaking fluency: a) the ability to talk at length with few pauses; b) be able to produce sentences coherently, reasoned and semantically; c) have appropriate expressions in a wide range of contexts; d) language use should be creative and imaginative. Hedge (2000) further stated that speaking fluency is in line with: 1) the coherent response within the turns of communication; 2) appropriate use of linking different devices; 3) intelligible pronunciation and proper intonation.

2.3. Motivation and Language Learning

Motivation is a basic and essential part of learning (Brewer & Burgess, 2005). Gardner (1985) believed that with the intention of being motivated, the learner necessitates, requires, and needs to have something to anticipate, foresee, expect and long for, a reason, principle, or rationale having to do with aim or target. There is also a concept in the field of motivation introduced by Ryan and Deci (2000) as Self-Determination Theory; Ryan and Deci (2000) said that Self-Determination Theory categorizes and tells apart diverse types of motivation in accordance with the different rationales, causes, or targets which strengthen a deed or an achievement.

In proportion to this theory, the most fundamental difference is between intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the eagerness and interest to do and take part in some certain activities because an individual feels that they are attractive and pleasant. Students who have intrinsic motivation are inclined to stay with intricate and complicated problems and gain knowledge from their slips and mistakes (Walker, Greene, & Mansell, 2006). Besides, intrinsic motivation is essential and fundamental for the integration process through which elements of one’s accessible internal awareness and knowledge is assimilated or mixed with new knowledge. Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, is the propensity to take part in activities because of the reasons which do not link to the activity. These reasons can be the anticipation of reward or punishment, like being successful in the exam or getting a good mark (Vansteenkiste, Lens, & Deci, 2006).

3. Methodology

3.1. Participants

This work was carried out on 24 BA English students, from Azad University, Abadan, Iran. Their age range was 20 to 28. Twenty to twenty eight years old individuals were chosen because this age group is the most potential member of social network- What's App. The researchers selected all the participants non-randomly because they were available and they could contact them more easily. One of the requirements needed for English learners to be chosen as the participants of this study was their cooperation with the researchers and having What's App; they promised to cooperate well with the researchers. Gender variable was accounted for by dividing the participants by half as 12 males and 12 females.

3.2. Instrumentation

The first instrument of this study was Dörnyei (2010) (part 1) English Learner Questionnaire, this questionnaire was used to help the researchers check the current participants' intrinsic motivation level. The questionnaire was a 6-linkert one: 1 to 6- Strongly Disagree (1), Disagree (2), Slightly Disagree (3), Slightly Agree (4), Agree (5), and Strongly Agree (6).

The second instrument was an interview; after answering the questionnaire, the researchers held the interview with participants about their motivation in learning English. This interview contained 15 open-

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ended questions. Three English Ph.D instructors confirmed the validity of the interview items. The purpose of interview was to measure both participants' intrinsic motivation and speaking ability. Chatting with native speakers was the treatment to elicit the needed data from the participants. The respondents were wanted to chat with natives for three months on What's App. It is worth noting that after the period of the treatment-chatting with natives- the mentioned questionnaire and interview were used again to help the researchers find the impact of chatting on improving the participants' intrinsic motivation and speaking skill.

3.4. Procedure

The data gathered and used in this study were both quantitative and qualitative by nature. The required data were collected through motivation questionnaire and interview. To collect these data, participants were provided with the motivation questionnaire to answer. After filling out the questionnaire, the researchers held the interview with the participants over their motivation in learning English as a whole and speaking English in particular. Afterward, they were asked to spend 3 months chatting with native speakers on What's app. Participants were required not to delete any message they received in chatting because the messages they received were crucially needed for finding the answers for the research questions. After this period of time, another interview about their motivation was conducted. The mentioned questionnaire also was distributed among them again and the answers were compared and analyzed by SPSS software.

3.5. Data Analysis

The data which was collected through the motivation questionnaire were analyzed by using Paired Samples T-test to find the impact of chatting on the participants' intrinsic motivation. Regarding the collected data through holding interviews, first, the collected data were transcribed, and then they were categorized and finally analyzed qualitatively. The details of analyzing process and the results are reported in the next section.

4.1. Results

4.1 Quantitative Results

Table 1 presents basic information about the pre-test and post-test scores of the participants in questionnaire and interview.

Table 1. Descriptive Statistics of Pretest and Posttest of the Participants in Interview and Questionnaire

N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation

Interview

Pretest 24 12.00 18.00 14.4583 1.64129

Posttest 24 15.00 20.00 17.3333 1.52277

Questioner

Pretest 24 1.36 1.95 1.6131 .18177

Posttest 24 5.17 5.57 5.3542 .11086

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Based on Table 1, the lowest score of the participants in the pre-test interview is 12; the highest is 18 and the average is 14.46. As the above table shows, in post-test interview the lowest score is 15; the highest score is 20 and the average is 17.33. That means the treatment was very effective on the participants. The participants did better after the experiment.

Table 1 also indicates the scores of the participants in the motivation questionnaire (6-linkerts). The lowest score in pretest questionnaire is 1.36; the highest score is 1.95 and the average is 1.61. In posttest questionnaire the lowest score is 5.17; the highest score is 5.57 and the average is 5.35. This significant rising in scores implies that the treatment-chatting with natives- was effective in getting the learners intrinsically motivated toward speaking English.

Table 2. The Interview Mean Scores in Pre-test and Post-test (Paired Samples T-test)

Mean

T df Sig. (2-tailed)

Posttest – Pretest 2.87500 41.691 23 .000

According to the above table, T =41.691 with DF=23 and Sig=0.000 which is less than 0.05; meaning that there is a meaningful difference between pretest and posttest interview scores. Posttest average is 2.875 units bigger than pretest average.

Table 3. The Questionnaire Mean Scores in Pre-test and Post-test (Paired Samples T-test)

Mean T df Sig. (2-tailed)

Posttest – Pretest 3.74107 84.901 23 .000

Based on the above table, T= 84.901, DF =23, (Sig. = 0.000) which is smaller than the significance level set for the study (0.05) which means there is a significant difference between the pretest and posttest mean. Posttest average is 3.74107 units bigger than the pretest average.

4.2. Qualitative Results

Participants were interviewed; their responses were recorded and the collected data were analyzed qualitatively. According to the interview based data, four factors- improving English achievement, typing skills improvement, self-confidence improvement and familiarizing with target culture were the most motivating in chatting. The researchers also transcribed females' answers separately from the males'. Based on the responses that the participants produced, male respondents tended to chat with native speakers on topics like football, finding job, business, travelling abroad, and political issues. They claimed that the mentioned topics were very hot to discuss and most of the treatment time was spent on arguing these issues. On the other hand, female participants discussed more on cosmetic surgery, marriage, fashion and make-up. The details are reported in the discussion section.

It is worth noting that the students wanted to chat again in the next term because they enjoyed chatting. They wanted to chat with their friends in other social networks because they needed a friendly environment. One suggestion was that they need to use high speed Internet. Also, they suggested integrating the online chatting into all courses to reduce shyness when asking the teacher some questions.

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The results and discussions of the current study indicated that the EFL students could improve their speaking skills and they had positive opinions about using online chatting in language classrooms.

5. Discussion

To discuss the results of the research, the research questions are referred to as follows:

RQ 1. Does using text-chat raise BA English students' intrinsic motivation toward learning speaking skill?

This study examined the effects of chatting through social networking on improving motivation and speaking English. After analyzing the data , the results showed that there was not a significant difference among students' performance in pre-test, but in contrast there was a significant difference between the results of pre-test and post-test. It could be also observed that participants got better scores and had better performance after the treatment. The outcomes additionally showed that chatting with natives improved the speaking skill of the respondents. The online chatting could encourage students to produce and practice language. The results showed that learning English is facilitated through social networking. In fact, chatting is beneficial to language learning, the results of this study confirm the outcomes of the previous empirical studies.

The findings of the present study are in line with Chun's (2008) study. Chun (2008) illustrated that CMC is an effective medium for facilitating the acquisition of the discourse skills and interactive competence. He investigated the language production of first and second semester learners of German, and the results of his study showed that learners produced a wide range of discourse structures and speech acts, and that the learners interacted directly with each other with minimal pressure on response time and without the psychological pressure of making mistakes or looking foolish.

RQ 2. What are motivating factors in chatting from participants' point of view?

For answering this question, the participants were interviewed; their responses were recorded and the collected data were analyzed qualitatively. Based on the results, four factors- improving English achievement, typing skills improvement, self-confidence improvement and familiarizing with target culture were the most motivating in chatting.

For the advantages, the students believed that they could improve their language skills (vocabulary and grammatical knowledge, writing, speaking, and reading skills) and learn the target language more easily by chatting. They said that their typing skills and their self-confidence also improved. They also enjoyed their chatting experience. One participant said that "chatting can improve my general English so I can travel internationally". The results of the interview revealed that the students had positive opinions toward the advantages of using online chatting and thought they could use this to improve writing, reading, and speaking skills. They believed that they had more self-confidence in using and producing the language. They stated that chatting allowed them to participate equally in the conversations. They competed to produce language in chat rooms and they had more self-confidence to use English without shyness.

They did believe that chatting can improve their typing skills. They also contested with their friends in typing quick responses. The other important factor which sparked the participants' motivation to chat with natives was the chance of getting familiar with a new culture. Some students found the target customs interesting. Although there were some differences between two cultures, some similarities were found based on participants' ideas. Participants claimed if societies cooperate based on their cultural similarities, they will live a happy life together. They said "Chatting with our NS partners was very stimulating. Our NS partners were very patient and were willing to help us out when we got stuck. We

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believe that chatting with NSs is a powerful way to learn English. We were exposed to authentic language use and a full range of conversation functions. When we wrote to our NS partners, we had to think carefully how to express ourselves appropriately so they understood us. Sometimes it was not easy for us but it was the best way we have ever learned to communicate with others in the target language".

For the disadvantages of chatting, they said that they could not practice pronunciation and listening skills while chatting. Online chatting, specifically text-chatting, allows students to use spoken language by typing messages but it cannot replace the face-to-face interactions in terms of pronunciation and listening practices (Volle, 2005). However, the voice-chatting can be used to overcome this weak point of text-chatting.

RQ 3. What can be the best motivation raising chat topics?

After the researchers interviewed all participants, they transcribed their answers and categorized them. In fact, the researchers transcribed females' answers separately from the males'. Based on the responses that the participants produced, male respondents tended to chat with native speakers on topics like football, finding job, business, travelling abroad, and political issues. They claimed that the mentioned topics were very hot to discuss.

Male participants were interested to talk about sport because of its popularity. They were eager to chat about finding job because finding job is a nightmare for them and it is the most important issue for the young male people. They liked to gain much information about business since through business they can earn money and travel to other countries. Travelling to foreign countries was another motivation raising topic which they chat on a lot. They claimed that through travelling they can become familiar with different places, people and cultures. The last topic which the male respondents chat on a lot was political issues. As they said in the interview, they commented on presidents of two countries- Iran and England while chatting with each other; and they spoke about Middle East wars. . On the other hand, female participants discussed more on cosmetic surgery, marriage, fashion and make-up. As beauty is a very important factor for women, they chat a lot on it. They talked about the advantages and disadvantages of the cosmetic surgery. Based on the interview, the Iranian female respondents were more determined to do plastic surgery than their British interlocutors. Marriage was another hot topic for females to express their ideas about it. Iranian female participants liked to marry soon then continue their education. They believed finding job is not very important for them but British participants had a tendency to remain single and be economically independent. Their education and finding job were priorities. .. Fashion and make-up were other topics which tempted the female to deal with them. Young Iranian females believed that as a young person they have the right to wear modern clothes with world brands. But some social conventions restrict them and they are forcefully required to wear modestly. Tough to young British females, fashion was not as important as Iranian females they could freely wear what they like. Regarding make-up, Iranian females spend more time wearing make-up.

They said "discussion on the above-mentioned topics forced us to use certain vocabularies and phrases to get our ideas across to our partners. We enjoyed the discussions with our partners. We learned many new words and expressions from them because they were fluent in English. In our opinion, chatting is authentic and a true way to learn a foreign language".

6. Conclusion

The first conclusion to be drawn from this study is that chatting with native speakers is beneficial to university students. Chatting has positive effects on the speaking skill and intrinsic motivation of language learners. As motivation has been shown to play a significant role in students' achievement, techniques that focus on increasing students' motivation should be developed. Using chatting through

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the Internet for improving students' motivation and speaking fluency is also of great importance due to the opportunity that a chatting naturally gives to its users by combining speaking and writing (more specifically typing) so that all of them can express themselves and type their ideas at the same time without any interference and interruptions of others' speech. This is not possible in real classes since one cannot understand anything if all learners start talking and saying their ideas.

To put it in a nutshell, learning a language online is more attractive and useful for the students. Online chatting improves English learners' motivation and speaking skill; it attracts students' attention; it helps those introvert students to express their ideas without shyness. Chatting can enhance students' typing skill and self-confidence. Chatting through What's App should be integrated into curriculum due to the fact that it is familiar to the students.

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HOW TO TEACH THE VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES? A COMPARISON OF TWO METHODS OF

VLS TRAINING TO THE EFL LEARNERS.

1 Mojgan Hosseini Hamedani, 2 Dr. Massood Yazdanimoghadam 1. M.A in TEFL, Islamic Azad University (IAU), Central Branch, Tehran, IRAN.

2. PhD in TEFL, Faculty member at Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch, IRAN. 1 [email protected], 2 [email protected]

ABSTRACT

THIS STUDY WAS AN ATTEMPT TO COMPARE THE EFFECTS OF TWO METHODS OF TEACHING VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES (VLS), THE EXPLICIT VS. THE EMBEDDED METHOD. TWO HOMOGENIZED GROUPS WERE FORMED. ONE GROUP RECEIVED CONSCIOUSNESS RAISING ABOUT VLS WHILE THE OTHER DID NOT. FINALLY THE STUDENTS TOOK A VOCABULARY TEST AND FILLED OUT THE VLS QUESTIONNAIRE. THERE WERE FOUR RESEARCH QUESTIONS. THE SCORES AND THE REPORTED STRATEGIES WERE ANALYZED THROUGH SPSS FOR ANALYZING THE FIRST RESEARCH QUESTION. THE DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF TESTS, THE ESTIMATES OF THEIR RELIABILITY AND THE T-TEST WERE COMPUTED .THE DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF THE TWO GROUPS' VLS WERE OBTAINED TO SEE THE OVERALL PATTERNS OF THOSE STRATEGIES APPLIED BY THE SUBJECTS. THE PEARSON CORRELATION COEFFICIENT BETWEEN THE SUBSECTIONS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE AND THE VOCABULARY TEST WAS ALSO CALCULATED FOR THE TWO GROUPS. IN ORDER TO FIND THE ANSWER TO THE FOURTH QUESTION THREE DIFFERENT INDEPENDENT T-TESTS WERE RUN TO COMPARE THE MEAN SCORES OF THE TWO GROUPS ON THE COMPONENTS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE. A CLUSTER ANALYSIS WAS DONE TO MEASURE ANY PROBABLE DIFFERENCE IN THE DEGREE OF MEMBERSHIP PREDICTABILITY OF THE SUBSECTIONS OF THE TWO GROUPS' QUESTIONNAIRE. FURTHERMORE, TWO MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSES MEASURED THE POWER OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE IN PREDICTING THE SUBJECTS' SCORES. THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT THERE WAS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS' VOCABULARY SCORES, BUT THERE WERE MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE FIRST AND THE SECOND GROUPS' SCORES AND THEIR USE OF SPECIFIC STRATEGIES, AND FINALLY THERE WERE MANY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE FIRST AND THE SECOND GROUPS' SCORES AND THEIR USE OF SPECIFIC STRATEGIES. IN THE END THE RESEARCHER FOUND SO MANY THEORETICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS.

KEY WORDS: VOCABULARY, STRATEGY TRAINING, EXPLICIT, EMBEDDED.

Review of research

Many scholars believe that although there is a lot of individual variation across learners, teaching them vocabulary learning strategies is essential.Ahmed(1989),in a study of some 300 Sudanese learners, found that good learners not only used more vocabulary learning strategies but also relied more heavily on different strategies than did poor learners.

Oxford and Crookall (1994) examined a number of different techniques for teaching vocabulary and grouped them into fully, semi, and de-contextualized techniques. They concluded that not all students

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benefit equally from such techniques. They also concluded that incidental or indirect vocabulary learning through L2 use is essential for language development.

Cohen (2003) puts considerable emphasis on learning words through association, and particularly mnemonic techniques, because his research showed that learners do not use such aids systematically and therefore need instruction.

Schouten-Van Parreren (1992), in a study of Dutch students learning French, concluded that weak pupils should be helped to "master relevant vocabulary learning and reading strategies"(p.94).

Ellis and Beaton (1993, cited in Coady, 2012) investigated forty-seven students learning German and using Repetition, Key word, or "own" strategy conditions. They found that phonological and orthographic similarity of L2 to L1 was facilitative. The part of speech and the word's image ability were also strong determinants, particularly in the case of key word approach.

Oxford and Scarcella (1994) emphasized that, for most adult learners, direct vocabulary instruction is also beneficial and necessary. This is because students cannot usually acquire the mass vocabulary they need just by meaningful reading, listening, speaking, and writing. For long term retention and use of vocabulary, additional support is helpful.

Sanaoui (1995, cited in Coady, 2012) identified two distinctive approaches to L2 vocabulary learning, a structured approach to vocabulary learning was more successful than an unstructured one regardless of level of instruction and type of instruction received.

Hulstijn (1997) argued that it was especially worthwhile to teach foreign language students how to use the keyword approach.

Parry (1997, cited in Coady, 2012) carried out a longitudinal case study that demonstrates quite clearly how different cognitive strategies can have very dramatic impacts on the success or failure of particular students in their acquisition of vocabularies.

Altman (1997) showed the importance of metacognitive awareness in the process of oral production of vocabulary.

Nation and Newton (1997, cited in Coady, 2012) argued that the 2000 most frequent words should be learned as quickly as possible through direct teaching and learning.

Two major studies found positive evidence in support of explicit vocabulary instruction in an ESL setting. The first, Paribakht and Wesche (1997) is a significant empirical study that argues the, contextualized learning through reading is effective but that contextualized reading plus instruction is superior. The second study is Zimmerman's 1994 dissertation titled "self-selected reading and interactive vocabulary instruction". She also found that systematic instruction can indeed result in students learning certain target words and in a manner superior to simply having them do free and assigned reading. It is argued that the most effective way of addressing the vocabulary needs of L2 academic students is through a combination of reading and interactive vocabulary instruction.

Method:

The subjects of the first group who received explicit training were provided with lecture times on the concept of "strategy", different kinds of vocabulary learning strategies and were asked to learn the main and subcategories of them.

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On the other hand, the subjects of the second group who received embedded training were not provided with any kind of consciousness raising about the vocabulary learning strategies.

The existence of any probable relationship between the learners' vocabulary learning of these two groups and their use of specific strategies and the differences between their strategy profiles were also to be sought by the researcher.

Subjects

The subjects were 120 EFL female students at the intermediate level at Jahesh Institute. They were within the age range of 16 to 22.They had already covered the Elementary and pre-intermediate Headway series, and were going to study the Intermediate Headway series. They all participated in this research willingly.

Instrumentation

Three instruments were used to collect the data from the subjects. These included: a)a CELT test (2012) for determining the proficiency level of the students; b)a questionnaire on vocabulary learning strategies proposed by Gu and Johnson(2003)which was translated into Persian; c)a vocabulary test based on the students' current level of language ability which was the Headway intermediate book.

The language Proficiency Test and the Vocabulary Questionnaire:

The test was an original 2012 version of CELT (Comprehensive English Language Test).The items were of the multiple-choice type. That written test included two sections: 'structure'(75 items) and 'vocabulary'(75 items).Each item of this standardized test was equally weighed by receiving a single credit with no negative point value for wrong answers. The allocated time for this test was 80

The questionnaire (VLQ Version 3) was used to elicit students' beliefs about vocabulary learning and their self reported vocabulary learning strategies. The questionnaire reflected previous quantitative and qualitative research (e.g., Oxford, 1996; Gu and Johnson, 2003; Ahmed, 1989)and item analyses that removed redundant items from two earlier pilot versions.

The questionnaire included two sections. Section 1-beliefs about vocabulary learning-consisted of 17 statements representing three dimensions of beliefs :( a) Vocabulary should be memorized. (b)Vocabulary should be picked up naturally, and (c) Vocabulary should be studied and used. Participants were asked to rate each statement on a seven-point scale from Absolutely disagree (1)Disagree (2),Disagree but not always (3),Impartial (4),to Agree but not always(5), Agree(6),and Absolutely agree(7).Section 2,contained 91 vocabulary learning behaviors divided into two major parts of metacognitive regulation and cognitive strategies.

The original form of the questionnaire in English had classified the strategies into headings and related subheadings. After being translated into Persian, the strategy classifications were scrambled so that no two adjacent strategy items belonged to the same strategy category, otherwise it could affect the students' responses.

The Vocabulary Test

A vocabulary test was administered to measure the participants' word power made on the basis of the students' textbook .It was developed by the researcher for the purpose of this study, with (KR-21) r= 0.93 obtained in a pilot study of the twenty students who had the same characteristics of the subjects of the study. It contained 40 multiple-choice items of vocabulary. The allocated time for this test was 25 minutes.

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Procedures

After administering the CELT English proficiency test to all the 120 subjects, the papers were corrected and those students whose scores were within one SD above and below the mean were chosen as the subjects of this study. They were 80 students among which 60 students participated in the main study and 20 of them took part in the pilot study. Then the 60 students were randomly put into the first and the second group.

During the second phase, 200 vocabulary items were taught to the subjects in two different ways. For the first group vocabulary learning strategies were taught explicitly and for the second group these strategies were not taught directly while they were embedded in the teaching process. So the first group received information about the concept of "strategy" ,learned to use and to monitor their own use of strategies, they were provided with the list of vocabulary learning strategies and were asked to learn the subcategories of each category. The teacher asked the students of the first group to analyze and discuss the strategies and allocated lecture time to directly teach the strategies but the students in the second group were not provided with any consciousness raising toward vocabulary strategies or the concept of strategy itself, so the teacher did not discuss those skills. One week before the last session 20 students who had the same characteristics of the subjects of the study participated in the pilot study. So they took the post test of vocabulary which consisted of 45 items during 25 minutes. Each item was equally weighed by receiving a single credit and no negative-point value was considered for wrong answers.

The poor items were omitted. The reliability of the test based on the new items was computed. The two groups took the test. The obtained data from the two groups was computed by a't-test'. At last the subjects completed the Questionnaire.

Design

The design of this study is the posttest-only, equivalent-groups:

R G1 O2

R G2 O2

There are two groups: the first group (G1) who received explicit strategy training and the second group (G2) who received the embedded one. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of the groups. The gained calculated means were compared by performing a t-test to see if the difference between the mean scores were significant.

Analysis and Discussion

The 120 subjects took the CELT test and the descriptive statistics of the scores obtained of this test are shown in the following table.

Table 1, the CELT descriptive statistics

N K MEAN SD V SE of Mean

120 150 101.38 240293 590.169 2.218

The KR-21 formula was utilized and a value of 0.94 was obtained which indicated that the test was reliable. Eighty students who scored one standard deviation above and below the mean were chosen.

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Twenty of them were used in the pilot study and the other 60 subjects were randomly put into two groups in four intact classes. The F-test was also calculated for the two groups' proficiency test.

F=larger variance (12.13)/smaller variance (10.26)

The F observed value (1.40) has a p-value greater than 0.05, i.e., 0.283.Thus the two groups enjoyed homogeneous variances and were homogeneous in terms of their proficiency.

One week before the last session of the 36-hour course a teacher-made test based on the materials of the learners' textbook-intermediate headway-was administered to 20 subjects who had the same characteristics of the subjects under study. The test included 45 items and on the basis of the scores, item facility and discrimination of them was calculated. The items with 25



The Pearson Correlation Coefficient is calculated to measure the degree of association between the learning strategies total score and the second group subjects' scores on the test. The r-observed value is 0.79. This amount of r-value at 28 degrees of freedom is higher than the critical r-value, i.e. 36.

It can be concluded that there is a meaningful relationship between the embedded group students' performance on the vocabulary test and the total score of the strategy questionnaire.

Out of the 23 calculated coefficients, 13 are significant. The highest correlation is between the vocabulary and the use of note taking strategies (0.73) and the lowest is between the vocabulary and the top-down strategies (0.01).

Twenty three different independent t-tests were run to compare the mean scores of the explicit and embedded groups on the components of the questionnaire. All of the observed t-values were higher than the critical value of t. The only non-significant t-value belongs to the comparison made between the mean scores of the two groups on the TOP-DOWN section (section C).The critical value of t at 58 degrees of freedom is 2.All of the underlined t-values show significant differences between the two groups mean scores. So the embedded group (with mean of 30.4) performed better than the explicit group (with mean of 22.8) on the Memorization part

(Section A), while on all other sections the explicit group performed better.

One more difference which can be seen is that among the sub parts of the encoding memory strategies "visual encoding" had the lowest mean (M=8.16,SD=1.59) for the first group while "semantic encoding" showed the lowest mean (M=6.06,SD=1.48) of this category for the second group.

A cluster analysis was run to measure the degree of membership predictability of the subsections of the questionnaire. Before running the analysis, the scores converted into z-scores in order to have comparable criteria. The only subsection that could predict the members of the first group (explicit) is the Memorization, while all other subsections could predict the members of the second group. To put it into other words, the members of the first group tend to use the Memorization strategy while the members of the second group use all other strategies.

The significant F-values indicated that the subsections of the questionnaire could predict the membership of the subjects with accuracy. All of the significance values were less than 0.5.

Two multiple regression analyses were run to measure the power of the whole questionnaire (the total strategy use) and the components of the questionnaire in predicting the subjects' scores on the test.

The correlation between the total strategy and vocabulary is 0.50. Its square is 0.25.That is, 25 percent of the score on one test can be predicted from the other one.

Model Summary for the first regression, Table 5.

MODEL R R SQUARE ADJUSTED R SQUARE Std. Error of the Estimate

1 .502(a) .252 .239 6.79697

A Predictors:(Constant),TOTALSTRA

As the ANOVA table shows the F is significant. Its p-value is .000.Thus the model is linear.

ANOVA for the first regression, Table 6.

ANOVA (b)

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Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

1 regression 901.450 1 901.450 19.512 .000(a)

residual 2679.533 58 46.199

total 3580.983 59

a Predictors:(Constant),TOTALSTRA

B Dependent Variable:vocab

Regression coefficients can be seen in the next table. If one wishes to predict the vocabulary score, he should use this formula:

Vocab= (Total strategy*.90)+1.69.

Coefficients for the first regression, Table 7.

Coefficients (a)

Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients

B Std. Error Beta t Sig.

1 constant 1.698 6.239 .272 .786

TOTALSTRA .093 .021 .502 4.417 .000

a Dependent Variable:VOCAB

The Beta is .50.That is a unit of change in either test, results in .50 units change in the other one. The significant p-value for the t-statistics (t=4.41, p=.000) indicate that the beta value is statistically significant.

Out of the 23 independent variables entered into the regression equation, only two of them turned out to have significant predictive ability, the rest of the variables have not shown any significant contribution to the regression equation.

The model summary for the second regression indicated that Dictionary (Section H) has the highest predictive power, hence entered the equation on the first step. Its R. Square is .27.That is with Dictionary score, one can predict 27 percent of the vocabulary score.

Model Summary for the second regression, Table 8.

Model Summary(c)

Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate

1 .521(a) .271 .259 6.70696

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2 .573(b) .328 .304 6.49834

a Predictors:(Constant),DICTIONA

b Predictors:(Constant),DICTIONA,SELFINIT

c Dependent Variable:VOCAB

At the second step, the Selfinitiation Strategy (Section E) is entered. This two factor model can predict 32 percent of the vocabulary score (R-Square=.32).

The significant F-values (Sig



DICTIONA 1.140 .410 .363 2.782 .007

SELFINIT .879 .402 .285 2.187 .033

a Dependent Variable:VOCAB

The statistics for the variables excluded from the equation were also examined. The non-significant t-values (Sig >.05) indicated that the respective variable did not contribute to the equation significantly. The Normal Probability Plot indicated that the regression equation was linear. The variables have clustered around the diagonal (see Appendix A).

Summary of findings

The t-test showed no significant difference between the scores of the two groups.

Thus it could be concluded that the teachers’ efforts in teaching the unreal materials of vocabulary learning strategies would be of no use.

In order to find the answer to the three other research questions the two groups had filled VLS questionnaires.

The Pearson Correlation was calculated to measure the degree of association between learning strategies total score and the first group subjects’ scores on the vocabulary test. The same calculation was also done for the second groups.

It was concluded that there were meaningful relationships between both the explicit and embedded groups of students’ performance on the vocabulary test and the total score of the strategy questionnaire. So the more proficient students used more strategies dispense with whatever group they had been settled in (embedded or explicit) and less proficient learners in both groups used less vocabulary learning strategies.

Also the calculation of the correlation coefficient between subsections of the strategy questionnaire and the vocabulary test for the first group showed that their scores were highly correlated with “extended dictionary strategies”, and the “top-down belief” about learning vocabularies had the lowest correlation with their vocabulary scores. It means that the more proficient learners in the first group tended to use the eight subsections of the ‘Extended dictionary strategies’ more than the less proficient ones while they didn’t believe so much in the top-down approach toward learning the words. On the other hand the correlation coefficient between the subsections of the strategy questionnaire and the vocabulary test for the second group showed that there were the highest correlations between the vocabulary scores and the “using note” strategies, and the lowest ones had been between the vocabulary scores and the “top-down” belief about learning strategies. So it means that more proficient learners in the second group used more note – taking strategies (both meaning-oriented and usage-oriented ones) than the less proficient students. Again like the first group, the more proficient subjects in the second group did not believe so much in “top-down” approach toward learning vocabularies while the less proficient ones seemed to have the opposite idea.

In order to find the answer to the fourth question twenty three different independent t-teats were run to compare the mean scores of the explicit and embedded groups on the components of the strategy questionnaire. As the results showed in the first group participants emphasized the belief that vocabulary should be memorized less than the second group. This shows that the subjects under explicit training of

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strategies had become aware that there are so many other ways and strategies which can facilitate vocabulary learning and there would not be any obligation to learn them just through memorizing Persian equivalents of words, remembering dictionary definitions and memorizing word lists by the best way which would be repetition. On the contrary the subjects of the second group were shown to agree with those ideas.

In spite of expressing these beliefs the first group were shown to use memory strategies (both encoding and rehearsal strategies) more than the second group. This shows that while they don’t believe “memorization” is the only way of mastering words, at the same time they used all kinds of those strategies more than the second group and although the second group believed in memorization, in practice they used memory strategies less than the first group.

Except the first belief-memorization on the first section of the questionnaire-the independent t-tests showed that the first group used all the strategies more than the second group. Their better performance can be inferred to be due to having consciousness raising toward vocabulary learning strategies. Comparing the subsections of the main categories of the VLS questionnaire, we see one difference in the two groups’ performance. Among the sub parts of the encoding memory strategies, visual encoding had the least mean for the first group while encoding showed the least mean of this category for the second group. This means that the subjects under explicit training would use visualization less than other strategies in their encoding processes while the second group tended to use semantic encoding less than the others.

A cluster analysis was also run to measure any probable difference in the degree of membership predictability of the subsections of the two groups’ questionnaire. The result showed that those students who used more memorization strategies (both rehearsal and encoding) could be identified as the members of the first group while no single subsection could predict the second groups’ membership.

Finally two multiple regression analyses were run to measure the power of the questionnaire and the components of the questionnaire in predicting the subjects’ scores on the vocabulary test. The first regression analysis showed that 25 percent of the vocabulary score on one test can be predicted from the other one and if one wishes to predict the vocabulary score, he should use this formula:

Vocabulary score = (Total strategy score * 0.09) + 1.69

The second regression analysis showed that “Dictionary strategies” and “self-initiation” were proved to be able to predict the vocabulary scores. Therefore one can predict the subjects’ vocabulary score of this study through the following formula:

Vocabulary score = (Dictionary * 1.63) + (selfint * 1.14) + 4.71

The significant F-values of ANOVA and the linear regression showed that the results of the regression model were significant.

Theoretical Implications

The findings of this study provided the researcher with the following theoretical results:

1. Teaching the unreal materials including the list of vocabulary learning strategies would have no effect on the students’ final scores.

2. The more proficient learners use more vocabulary learning strategies dispense with whatever group they had been settled in (The explicit or the embedded one).

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3. The more proficient learners who had been under explicit training use extended dictionary strategies more than the less proficient ones.

4. The more proficient learners under explicit training – contrary to the less proficient ones- do not believe in “top-down” approach toward learning vocabularies.

5. The more proficient learners under embedded training used more “note –taking strategies” contrary to the less proficient ones.

6. The more proficient learners under explicit training like those under the embedded one do not believe in “top-down” approach toward learning vocabularies while the less proficient ones do.

7. The learners under explicit training use more vocabulary learning strategies than the learners under embedded training.

8. The learners under explicit training do not believe that memorization and repetition are the best ways of mastering vocabularies while those under embedded training do.

9. While the learners under explicit training do not believe in obligation in memorizing vocabularies, they used both rehearsal and encoding memorization strategies more than the others but the learners under embedded training do not show any strategy to predict their membership to their group.

10. The learners under explicit training use “visual encoding” less than other strategies of “encoding strategies”.

11. The learners under embedded training use “semantic encoding” less than other strategies of “encoding strategies".

Pedagogical Implications

The findings of this study can help teachers, material developers and consequently the students in many ways.

It can help teachers by awaring them that teaching the abstract information including lists of vocabulary learning strategies would not have any effect on the students' vocabulary learning. So there is no essential need to specify a remarkable time of the class to teach unreal materials which would not create any difference on the final outcome. Moreover, on the condition of replacing that with real language activities we might receive more successful results.

On the other hand we saw that there were some relationships between the use of some specific strategies and students' scores in both groups. By knowing those strategies which are mostly used by the more proficient learners, the teachers can make the less proficient ones be aware of those strategies and help them improve their learning under whatever training they have been settled, for example if they are in an explicit group they can get information about "memory strategies" and "extended dictionary use strategy" and if they are in an embedded group they can get information about "beliefs on memorization" and take-noting strategies.

The teachers can also create a balance in their approach toward teaching strategies by considering the differences between the strategies used by the learners under different training methods. So they can have a combinative approach to teach just those strategies which are not used by the students, for example as we saw the subjects under explicit training didn't use "visual encoding" in their encoding processes so much and the subjects under embedded training used "semantic encoding" strategies less than the other encoding strategies. By making more emphasis on these kinds of strategies the teachers can

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both avoid from teaching long lists of strategy items and make the students aware of many strategies they don't know.

This study will also remove any probable doubt in material developers' mind that there would not be any essential need to mention vocabulary learning strategies explicitly in the textbooks.

Finally all these findings were to pave the way for the teachers to help students gain more success in their educational activities.

References

Ahmed, M.O. (1989). Vocabulary learning techniques. In P. Meara (Ed), Beyond words (pp.3- 14) London: CILT

Aitchison, J. (1992). Teach yourself linguistics.London: Hodder & Stoughton.

Altman, R. (1997). Oral production of vocabulary: A case study. In J. Coady & T. Huckin Eds), Second language vocabulary acquisition: A rational for pedagogy (pp.69-97). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Coady, J. (2012). L2 vocabulary acquisition: A synthesis of the research. In J. Coady, & T. Huckin (Eds), Second language vocabulary acquisition: A rationale for pedagogy (pp.237-290). Cambrige: Cambridge University Press.

Cohen, A.D. (2003). Studying learner strategies: How we get the information. In A. Wenden & J.Rubin (Eds.), Learner Strategies in language learning (pp. 31-40). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Ellis, N. C., & Beaton, A. (1993). Psycholinguistic determinants of foreign language vocabulary learning. Language learning Journal, 43 (4), 559-617.

Gu, Y., & Johnson, R.K. (2003).Vocabulary learning strategies and language learning outcomes. Language Learning,46 (4), 643-679.

Hulsttijn, J.H. (1997). Mnemonic methods in foreign language vocabulary learning. In J, Coady & T, Huckin (Eds.), Second language vocabulary acquisition: A rationale for pedagogy (pp.203-224). Cambridge: Cambridge

Oxford, R. (1990). Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know. New York: Newbury House.

Oxford,R. L., & Crookall,D (1994). Strategy training for language learners. Modern language Journal, 73 (1).

Paribakht, T. S., & Wesche, M. (1997). Vocabulary enhancement activities and reading for meaning in second language vocabulary acquisition. In J. Coady & T. Huckin (Eds.), Second language vocabulary acquisition: A rationale for pedagogy (pp. 174-200).Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Rubin,J. (1987). Learning strategies: Theoretical assumptions, research, history, and typology. In Wenden & J. Rubin (eds.), Learning strategies in language learning.(pp. 15-30) Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall.

Schouten-Van Parreren, c. (1992). Individual differences in vocabulary acquisition: A qualitative experiment in the first phase of secondary education. In P. Arnaud & H. Bejoint (Eds.), Vocabulary and applied linguistics (pp. 94-101). Basingstoke: Macmillan.

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Zimmerman. B. (1997). Historical trends in second language vocabulary instruction. In J. Coady & T. Huckin (Eds.), Second language vocabulary acquisition: A rationale for pedagogy (pp.5-19).Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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The Effects of Task-based Teaching and Metacognitive-based Teaching on Pragmatic Competence of EFL Learners

Sevda Hadi Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages

Tabriz University Iran

[email protected]

Hossein Vaziri Faculty of Radiology

Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Iran

[email protected]

ABSTRACT IN THE PRESENT STUDY THE RESEARCHER ENDEAVORED TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS OF TASK-BASED TEACHING AND METACOGNITIVE-BASED TEACHING ON PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE OF EFL LEARNERS. THE SAMPLE OF THIS STUDY CONSISTED OF 100 FEMALE AND MALE INTERMEDIATE STUDENTS OF AN IRANIAN ENGLISH LANGUAGE INSTITUTE- NAMED RESPINA TALK NOVIN. THE DESIGN OF THIS QUSI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDY WAS FACTORIAL DESIGN BASED ON ARY, JACOBS, SORENSEN, AND RAZAVIEH (2010). THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY ANALYZED USING DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS; PRE/POST TESTS OF PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE. IN ORDER TO O SEE WHETHER METACOGNITIVE-BASED TEACHING IS SUPERIOR OR TASK-BASED ONE, THE TWO-WAY INDEPENDENT SAMPLES TEST; ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (ANOVA) TEST WAS RUN. THE RESULTS SHOWED THE EFFECT OF BOTH TASK-BASED AND METACOGNITIVE-BASED INSTRUCTION ON PRAGMATIC COMPETENCY OF IRANIAN EFL LEARNERS. THEREFORE, ALL THREE NULL HYPOTHESES WERE REJECTED. THE FINDINGS OF THIS STUDY WILL PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO FORM(S) OF APOLOGY AND REQUEST NEEDED TO BE TAUGHT TO NON-NATIVE LEARNERS WITH ATTENTION TO THE CROSS-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES FOUND BETWEEN PERSIAN AND ENGLISH. KEYWORDS: TASK-BASED INSTRUCTION, METACOGNITIVE-BASED INSTRUCTION, PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE

1. INTRODUCTION

Along with the emergence of communicative competence in language teaching, pragmatics captured scholar’s imagination as a potential field of research. Cohen, Bardovi-Harlig, Jianda, and Roever are among scholars who have great body of work in the area of pragmatics. Sociolinguistic and ethnographic studies have focused on incorporation of pragmatic awareness in TESOL planning as well, being reinforced by the move from grammatical to communicative competence in language learning. However, there is not much body of research on the specific components constituting such awareness. EFL learners

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Modern Journal of Language Teaching Methods (MJLTM)Kargozari Hamid Reza, PhD in TEFL, Payame Noor...

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Transcript of Modern Journal of Language Teaching Methods (MJLTM)Kargozari Hamid Reza, PhD in TEFL, Payame Noor...